What is The Season of Creation?
Pope John Paul II in 1990 named environmental care as integral to the Catholic faith and named St Francis of Assisi as the patron of ecological conversion. Pope Benedict XVI reinforced this Catholic vocation delivering homilies and speeches asking world leaders to take action. Pope Francis, in his 2015 Encyclical Laudato Si’ detailed the call to See, Judge, Act on care for our common home.
Every year, Christians of all denominations join in prayer and action for our common home and celebrate the Season of Creation starting on 1 September, the Day of Prayer for Creation and ending on 4 October, the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi.
Ecumenical Patriarch Dimitrios I proclaimed 1 September as a day of prayer for creation for the Orthodox in 1989. Christians worldwide have embraced the season as part of their annual calendar. Pope Francis made the Roman Catholic Church’s warm welcoming of the season official in 2015. He encouraged Catholics to use this season as an opportunity to reaffirm their personal vocation to be stewards of creation.
Free resources to celebrate Season of Creation
1. Watch 7 Days of Creation Reflection - Retreat
2. Download 7 Days of Creation Reflection-Retreat: Year A
3. A Catholic Season of Creation– Sundays of September (Year A, 2020)
An online Catholic liturgical resource for Celebrating a Catholic Season of Creation during September. "A Catholic Season of Creation" resource explores the Sunday scripture readings to help us find the voice of the earth as the voice of the Holy Spirit.
4. SHOP - Eucharist and Laudato Si' [Book - A liturgical reource to celebrate the Catholic Season of Creation during September].
Watch these episodes of Meet a Columban where the Regional Director of Oceania Fr Trevor Trotter SSC speaks with Columban Rev Dr Charles Rue.
5. Meet a Columban - Rev Dr Charles Rue SSC Part I
6. Meet a Columban - Rev Dr Charles Rue SSC Part II
7. Jubilee for the Earth - A new podcast mini-series by Columbans
8. Jubilee for the Earth - A Season of Creation Resource from Columbans Fiji
9. Jubilee Time for the Earth - produced by Laudato si' International Scholars Tertiary Education Network
10. Various resources - ACBC Media blog